Five Decades of Research on the Role of Context in Management: From Universalism Toward Contingent, Multilevel and Polycontextual Perspectives

Abstract

This collection of articles from Academy of Management archives features work highlighting the impact of context on management phenomena, recent advances in treating context, and examples of effective contextualization of management theories, and identifies unresolved issues, gaps, and limitations. Spanning several management subfields, multiple levels of analysis, a variety of contextual dimensions, and nearly five decades of scholarship, the 18 articles examined converge on one important common denominator: they move contextual thinking from the fringes to the center of management theory and research. Collectively, the articles reveal four important trends: (a) a shift from universalism toward a more contingent view of management phenomena reflecting the increasing complexity, volatility, and diversity of the environments in which organizations operate; (b) the adoption of multilevel lenses and research designs that illuminate the dynamic interplay between micro, meso, and macro levels; (c) a need to move toward a “polycontextual” approach in management theory and research that considers multiple contextual dimensions and their interdependencies; and (c) a trend toward phenomenon-based research that integrates the richness of context into the framing of theoretical arguments and leads to more relevant and actionable insights by shifting attention to societal problems and their implications for management and organizations.